Choose a book from one of the following award lists for this assignment:

Carter G. Woodson Book Awards
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People

Format for book reviews
Judy Oakey
Reaching Out by Feancisco Jimenez, Houghton Mifflin Books 2008
Summary: A young migrant worker from Mexico leaves all he knows to become a college student at Santa Clara University, a Jesuit school in California. His poignant recitial of his college days from 1962-1966 and his subsequent bestowal of a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship scholarship for graduate work, takes the reader through the author's personal experiences to national events such as the assassination of John F.Kennedy and the Cesaer Chavez solidarity marches for the rights of migrant workers. Told with humility and grace, this is an inspirational story of the possiblities of being a citizen in the United States. A well-deserved Pura Belpre Honor Book, this is a story to lift the spirits of all of us.

Grade level: middle school through seconday

Uses: individual reading
Subject tie-in:

• Literature: yes
• social studies : absolutely

High yield strategy for reading skill development:

1. inference
2. cause and effect
3. point of view
4. author's purpose
5. theme

Comments: This is a great book for young people in order for them to explore the possibilties that life offers. It is an inspirational autobiography which could inspire our young people, especially our Hispanic and Mexican populations. Also, it challenges the reader to evaluate prejudice. In addition, it exemplies the principal that we are not here alone.



Jean White
Uh Huh! the story of Ray Charles by John Duggleby/Morgan Reynolds Publishing/2005
Carter G. Woodson Award 200
Summary: This biography of Ray Charles is sensitively, plainly and clearly written. The author covers Charles’ birth and poverty youth, his younger brother’s death, loss of his eyesight, his boarding school days and amazing way of learning to cope in a sighted world. His drug addiction, extra-marital relationships and his entry into the music business are handled well. Many pictures are sprinkled throughout the book. Duggleby also includes many sidebars on the history of music and musicians which makes this a well-balanced, well-written work.
Grade level: Middle, High
Uses: individual reading and research
Subject tie-in: Literature, Social Studies, Arts, Life Skills
High Yield Strategy for Reading Skill Development:

1. inference - yes
2. cause and effect - yes
3. point of view - yes
4. author's purpose -yes
5. summarizing for comprehension - yes

Comments: I enjoyed learning about Ray Charles and the history. Recommended reading.


Jean Downey
Claudette Colvin Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose/Melanie Kroupa Books/ 2009
Summary: This biography of Claudette Colvin is an eye opening account of Ms. Colvin's impact on the Montgomery bus boycott and the Browder v. Gayle court case that helped put an end to the Jim Crow segregation laws. The author explores Colvin's life and experiences as she interacts with, and is touched by, important people and events in the movement toward civil rights. She is a forgotten figure who, as a teenager, stood up to segregation and who interacted with Rosa Parks and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Several pictures and sidebars in the book help to bring to life the history it tells.
Grade level: Upper Elem. Middle, High
Uses: individual reading, research, enrichment
Subject tie-in: Social Studies, Civics, Literature
High Yield Strategy for Reading Skill Development:
1 cause and effect
2 point of view
3 author's purpose
4 summarizing for comprehension
Comments: This book is very engaging to a history lover.